claycookiemonster
Well Known Member
Ok, after weeping and gnashing of teeth, and removing and reinstalling both baffles, and then adding a bit more proseal, both my tanks passed the soap bubble test. Good enough.
Or is it?
A friend offered me another way to test the tanks. It's the machine auto repair shops use to find leaks in your car's emission and Evaporation system. You know that "Check Engine" light? Often caused by a leak in the various emission manifolds. So, this machine pumps a relatively low pressure of smoky air into the emission system and then you shut off the incoming flow and it measures how quickly the pressure drops in the sealed system. The smoke allows you to see where the leak might be, and it's calibrated to reveal slowly dropping pressure! Genius!
Now, it's unlikely any of us will pay $1500 for a leak detection machine we'll only use once, but maybe you have a friend who runs a garage? It seriously took only about 10 minutes to re-test (remember, the soap bubble test was a go) both tanks. No smoke, and the pressure gauge was rock solid.
The unit I used (and I have no connection to the company at all) was from Redline Detection. Totally self contained and powered by 12v dc cables like jumper cables. Maybe they're rentable? It was a confidence booster to see the tanks pass a different test with much more precise instrumentation.
Or is it?
A friend offered me another way to test the tanks. It's the machine auto repair shops use to find leaks in your car's emission and Evaporation system. You know that "Check Engine" light? Often caused by a leak in the various emission manifolds. So, this machine pumps a relatively low pressure of smoky air into the emission system and then you shut off the incoming flow and it measures how quickly the pressure drops in the sealed system. The smoke allows you to see where the leak might be, and it's calibrated to reveal slowly dropping pressure! Genius!
Now, it's unlikely any of us will pay $1500 for a leak detection machine we'll only use once, but maybe you have a friend who runs a garage? It seriously took only about 10 minutes to re-test (remember, the soap bubble test was a go) both tanks. No smoke, and the pressure gauge was rock solid.
The unit I used (and I have no connection to the company at all) was from Redline Detection. Totally self contained and powered by 12v dc cables like jumper cables. Maybe they're rentable? It was a confidence booster to see the tanks pass a different test with much more precise instrumentation.